Venice invented urban tourism in the 15th century, when its military and commercial empire began to dismantle. Since then it has been an open-air museum, also attractive for its promise of hedonism and sensuality. You only need to look at Canaletto paintings like the one treasured by the MNAC (Il Bucintoro), with the foundations and the canals full of people, to highlight that tourist saturation comes from far away.
And that in Venice it is easy to find oases of authenticity outside the infernal San Marco-Ferrovia axis. In neighborhoods such as Cannaregio, Castello, Giudecca or Dorsoduro it is possible to evoke Venetian nostalgia even in high season. Many tourists are horrified to stray from the main route, scared of the risk of getting lost in the alleys without a franchise to serve them a chewy pizza.
But it is clear that the concentration of visitors can become extraordinary (100,000 tourists for 40,000 residents on some days), greatly disrupting the life of the city. This is evident when the vaporetti pass by the stops because they are crowded. The reaction of the locals, abandoned on the ground, can become fearsome.
Pressured by this and by the threat of seeing his city included in the humiliating list of Unesco’s endangered heritage, the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has been pushed to impose a toll of 5 euros on visitors to day. Despite the criticism received for privatizing the city or for not facing the structural crisis, the measure seems to be working, at least in terms of its condition as a collection instrument.
The Venice experiment will be the subject of study in all cities with an overabundance of tourists. For example, in a Barcelona where tourism containment policies are carefully followed.
At the outset, the Venetian toll invites us to think about some kind of measure to limit day cruises, whose presence is ostentatious and annoying not only for locals, but also for quality tourism. But, beyond this option, it is obvious that the initiative of the insular Venice must be applied with other methods in cities where a toll is not possible.
In its own way, Barcelona has been anticipating saturation for a long time. These days, the international press, when reporting on the Venetian toll, mentions the Catalan capital among the cities that are already proactive with measures such as the limitation of hotels or the fight against illegal tourist apartments. The message, in a way, is launched.
It should be remembered that the last planned increase in the municipal surcharge for the tourist tax was applied in April. Visitors who stay overnight pay between 6.75 euros per person and day for luxury hotels and 4.25 for the cheapest establishments. It is a rate that can still increase, but perhaps the priority is to explain it better. To the neighbor, but also to the tourist.
This should be informed by means of a document given to the hotels themselves that their money will be used in measures that will prevent their presence in the city from being unwanted. For example, to increase the frequency of shared transport between locals or visitors; to promote cultural tourism; to preserve historical heritage, or to preserve commerce with charm.
The City Council has earmarked part of last year’s tax for air conditioning in schools. It was a necessary and urgent measure, but perhaps we should avoid the possibility that visitors think that with their money they are paying for structural problems in the city, as if it were a cooperation agency. Linking this expenditure to the coexistence of tourists and locals, emphasizing common interests, can be more didactic. In Venice, it is explained that part of the money collected will be used to improve the underwater system against floods. In the future, in a Barcelona located on the front line of the climate crisis, who knows if it will be appropriate to inform visitors that their fee will be used to save beaches that belong to everyone.
